When my son was 18 months old, we found the following wooden jigsaw puzzles in the US. They look interesting so we bought them for him. You can probably get these in major stores (WalMart, Toys'R'Us, Jusco). One famous brand of wooden puzzles I know of is Melissa & Doug.
It turned out to be a great toy and trains him the basics of playing jigsaw puzzles. Although the puzzle may look very easy to the adults, in the beginning it was very tough for him. First, he learnt to hold the pieces using the red "handle" / "knob" attached to each piece. Then, he must stabilize the piece, rotate it as needed to fit the piece into the "hole" - and of course he needed to recognize which "hole" the piece should go to. Every piece put in was a great effort and we always cheered and praised him whenever he succeeded, encouraged him when he was almost there. What I realized from this activity is that, in order to train your child to have patience, first, you must have the patience to train him/her. It requires a lot of patience from the parents to sit down with the child and guide him/her to solve the puzzle. Adults tend to want to help the children when we see that they are unable to do it, but it's important to let them try out and experience the failure. Of course, at times, we may need to guide them, especially in the beginning, perhaps by holding their hands to put in the pieces. Children (in fact, even adults) love to be praised. So keep giving them positive words to encourage them.
I cannot remember exactly how long it took him to master the skills to complete the puzzle, probably after a few months, but I remember how joyful and proud we felt when he mastered the skills. And he felt a great sense of accomplishment.
The next step is completing the "cardboard" jigsaw puzzles, which is the same material as the common jigsaw puzzles that we play with. Start with puzzles of big pieces with "frame", like below, which we also bought from the US. Increase the number of pieces from 4 pieces to 6 pieces, 10, 25, and decrease the size of the pieces. Eventually, as the child "graduates" from these "junior puzzles", s/he will be able to play with the conventional jigsaw puzzles.
It is very important to keep the interest of the child. After some time and some trials, a child may lose interest as it is beyond his/her capability to solve the puzzle. If you fail to keep the interest by praising, encouraging, guiding and demonstrating, just put the puzzle aside and do not force the child to continue. I remember my girl had very little patience when I first introduced her to the first wooden puzzles. I tried again after a few weeks but she gave up after a short while. This was repeated for a few times. It took her longer than her elder brother, but eventually she was also able to solve the puzzle.
Another tip to attract the children is to use their favorite characters like Thomas the Tank Engine, Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh. It worked with both my children. Something special like a puzzle that glows in the dark can also attract them. :)
Below shows another variation which I find very interesting. The 2 bears each consists of 3 pieces - head, upper body and lower body which can be changed. My girl enjoyed changing the clothes for the bears and she also learnt to match the top and bottom clothing by color and pattern.
Quite a number of people commented that my children are ahead of their peers in solving jigaw puzzles. This is due to exposure and practice. I believe that most other children, given the same opportunity, would be able to achieve the same thing as well. Practice makes perfect!
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